Rivers warns butchers against using tyres, chemicals to process meat

详细摘要

The Rivers State Government has warned butchers against using tyres and harmful chemicals to process meat, stating that defaulters risk arrest and prosecut Read More:…

The Rivers State Government has warned butchers and abattoir operators against using vehicle tyres and harmful chemicals to process meat for public consumption, warning that defaulters risk arrest and prosecution.

The government also directed all slaughterhouses across the state to register with the State Ministry of Agriculture to validate their status and ensure they are not involved in unwholesome practices.

The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Mercy Iboroma, handed down the warning at a news briefing at the State Veterinary Hospital in Rumuodomaya, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, on Friday.

Represented by the Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Godsawill Ukoikpkoko, the permanent secretary said the move had become necessary to protect residents from unsafe meat, noting that such practices could cause several health problems.

Ukoikpkoko said meat inspection officers had already been deployed to slaughterhouses across the state to enforce food safety standards.

He stated, “It is ethically and legally wrong to use tyres and plastic materials to roast meat intended for human consumption. This practice is causing various internal organs failures, cancers and disabilities and even deaths or mortality.

“Worse still is the use of chemicals to process hides and skin popularly known as ponmo imported originally for the leather industry.

“To guide against these sharp practices the government has provided the Rivers State Meat Inspection and Sales Law Cap 86 No 2 of 1999 to address these anomalies.

“All defaulters are hereby warned as offenders would be arrested and prosecuted in line with the provisions of extant laws and regulations in the interest of food safety for the good people of Rivers State.”

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